Why I Am Proud To Be An American

The greatness of America can be identified in two words : freedom and opportunity . No student of World History can discover a time and place where a group of people had more freedom and opportunity than Americans in the 20th and 21st century . Despite the rhetoric of certain political parties , America is the greatest country in the world . Some might quickly dismiss this as an overt sense of nationalism but one should be proud to be an American and there are plenty of reasons to support such beliefs

I am proud to be

an America because of the freedom that it gives its citizens . This does not mean that people can do whatever they want . That would lead to chaos . However , Americans have more economic freedom than anywhere in the world . America 's economic theory of choice is capitalism . This leads to lower taxes than in Socialist countries like much of Europe or to an even greater extent , Communist countries like China and North Vietnam . Speaking of the latter , Americans can enjoy religious freedom whereas Christians in China and North Vietnam have to worship in secret . If one wants to go to church or not to go at all they have that freedom in America . This freedom was seen as so important by our forefathers that it is listed as the very first law in the Bill of Rights even above freedom of speech or freedom of the press . This is very important and the faithful in other parts of the world who have to worship in secret out of fear of being murdered , can speak to the greatness of America or any country that gives religious freedom to its citizens

The second reason why I am proud to be an America is because of the opportunity that it gives its citizens . If one works hard and makes informed and economically sound decisions , they can enjoy a large piece of the American pie of success . This does not include those who make unwise financial decisions and who buy homes that they cannot afford and have five children when they budget can only support three . Normal consequences will follow and those people will suffer poverty . However those who are responsible and work hard can enjoy a greater level of success than could be achieved in any other part of the world . America was formed as a meritocracy . It does not matter whose one 's ancestors were or on what side of the tracks one was born . If an individual is willing to work hard and to practice self sacrifice , the opportunity is there to a larger degree than anywhere else in the world . Success will not always be achieved by each individual . However , the opportunity is there and that is the ultimate freedom of all...